Knowledge is power, especially for anyone looking to start a new business or boost an existing one. Docstoc, home to hundreds of documents and resources for business folk, packs an awful lot of knowledge into its 30 small-business apps for iPhone and iPad.
The apps cover just about every topic under the business sun, starting with finding a job or developing an idea:
Capital Sources for Your Business
Building a Home Based Business
Have you already launched a new enterprise? The collection includes handy apps for that as well:
Marketing 101: What is Marketing
And if you're hoping to help your established business flourish, Docstoc offers apps like these:
Marketing, Branding, and PR Secrets
Leadership Secrets for Entrepreneurs
How to Grow Your Business with Mobile Apps
Needless to say, there's a ton of valuable information here. Most of the apps consist of concise, professional videos; many also include documents, templates, and other resources.
Looking over How to Start a Business, for example, the phrase "treasure trove" comes to mind. Its five chapters include some 38 videos, plus extras like an industry-analysis checklist, an article on recession-proof business ideas, a business-plan template, and lots more.
Docstoc could easily charge a few bucks -- heck, more than a few -- for these apps, but they're all free. Even better, you never get the feeling Docstoc is trying to sell you something. The company does offer a collection of "premium" documents, but the apps I looked at didn't even have links to them.
For the moment, Docstoc's business apps are available only for iOS. The good news is that you can find most of the same content right on the Docstoc site. It's not quite as mobile-friendly this way, but there's even more material -- and, again, most of it's free.